


A Dream is a Wish your Djinn Makes

by MrsEDarcy



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Canon Divergent, Cas and Dean are Main Characters, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Other characters in background, Set during season 12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-17 00:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10582707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsEDarcy/pseuds/MrsEDarcy
Summary: A gratuitous Djinn fic where Dean is captured once more by the supernatural creature and begins to see what he truly desires out of life.The second Dean woke up he knew he'd been nabbed by the Djinn. The room was too breezy, there was a window letting in moonlight, and while the bed was definitely still memory foam the sheets were much more fancy than he was used to.The other side of the bed was empty, but it was rumpled as if another occupant had recently vacated the bed. There was the sound of a fan humming from the bathroom. Dean rubbed his whiskers for a moment. He was wearing just an old pair of sweatpants, but he didn't see a point in putting on a shirt to go into the kitchen and stab himself to death. So, he quietly snuck his way out of the room.





	

The second Dean woke up he knew he'd been nabbed by the Djinn. The room was too breezy, there was a window letting in moonlight, and while the bed was definitely still memory foam the sheets were much more fancy than he was used to.

The other side of the bed was empty, but it was rumpled as if another occupant had recently vacated the bed. There was the sound of a fan humming from the bathroom. Dean rubbed his whiskers for a moment. He was wearing just an old pair of sweatpants, but he didn't see a point in putting on a shirt to go into the kitchen and stab himself to death. So, he quietly snuck his way out of the room.

The house was spacious, four bedrooms at least, and it actually took him a good minute to find the kitchen downstairs. Just as he rounds what he believes to be the proper corner his eyesight gets fixed on a little book near the dining room table.

Dean glanced once more at the kitchen. Swearing under his breath, he picked up the book and plopped down at the kitchen table. Djinn worlds, despite their promises, were imperfect but close and to say he wasn't the slightest bit curious it would be a lie. He probably wouldn't die, he'd lived out an entire day the last time.

He traces the words on the front absently.  _ The Winchesters  _ was written in cursive gold lettering. As he opened it, Dean was greeted by a photo of his parents and Sam with their arms wrapped around him at what appeared to be his high school graduation. It's weird to see himself in the cap and gown, but if he isn't the slightest bit jealous of his alternate reality self, then he'd be lying.

The next photo is of Sam's graduation where he holds his acceptance letter to Stanford as if it's the most precious thing in the universe while Dean and Mary are fighting back tears. John is holding it together a little better, but even he looks misty eyed.

The next few photos are uneventful. Dean opens up his own car garage specializing in classic cars and there's the newspaper article to prove it. There's a couple pictures of Sam and Jess at college looking disgustingly happy. There's a picture of Dean in the kitchen on Thanksgiving fixing dinner for his otherwise hopeless family.

The next page offers Dean a reason to pause. He and Sam are standing in a field posing as if they were police officers or FBI agents. They're wearing suits, but it's all far too fancy. That's when it occurs to Dean that it's from a wedding photo shoot. It isn't until the next picture that it occurs to him that it might not be from Sam's wedding.

He sees himself front and center pointing at a silver band on his left hand. He looks smug with a cocky grin. On his right his mother stands looking beautiful in a blue dress, tears unshed in her eyes with a protective hand on Dean's right arm. His dad is off to the side adorned in a green tie. John almost stands at attention, but he's smirking regardless. Sam's behind Dean with his one arm slung over his shoulder with the other jokingly positioned for a noogie.

There's a picture of Dean with just his mom, picking her up and twirling her around as she laughs raucously. Another where he and his Dad are sitting on the hood of the Impala drinking a beer. He's especially fond of the one where he sat on his brother's shoulders overlooking the world. 

He holds his breath slightly when turning the page before being confronted with his suspicions. There's a rush of emotion that he doesn't quite know how to sort out among the rest of the ones present. He tries to tell himself at first that this was the thing that the Djinn got wrong. They always got something wrong. So he could sit there and pretend that  _ this  _ was it. Give Dean the perfect life, but…

He has to admit to himself that it's not exactly something he hadn't pictured before. Not constantly, but not infrequently either. Just a little nagging thought when things started to get to cozy around the bunker. But seeing your desires laid out in front of you instead of the tiny manageable corners of your mind was different, more frightening. He considers closing the book, killing himself, waking up in reality, and pretending this never happened. But an unknown desire keeps him there, looking.

The page doesn't include him or any of his family. Instead there is a very intent pair of blue eyes peering into the lense of the camera and he can’t imagine anyone else. Cas is the focal point and he's surrounded. Dean can almost not count all of them. There's Gabriel, Anna, Hannah, Michael, Raphael, Lucifer, and more angels that Dean doesn't recognize at the moment. Chuck is the only one touching Cas in the photo, a protective fatherly hand on his shoulder.

There are a series of photos of Cas with all of his relatives individually. Most of them don't stick out, but a few photos were just a little bit more memorable. Lucifer and Cas are clearly busy trying to pretend to be the other in their photo. Cas is wearing a grin so similar to the time that he was sharing his vessel with his brother that it sends shivers down Dean's spine. Lucifer, on the other hand, completely nails the scrunched eye thing that Cas does when he's confused.

The photo with Chuck is interesting. Someone lugged a typewriter out into the middle of the field and he sits there typing on it as Cas appears to be editing the papers with a red pen, though in reality a glimpse of the papers scattered about the field shows that in reality he was drawing hearts throughout the margins with the initials  _ D + C  _ inscribed. Dean almost strokes the photo.

The best is with Gabriel. Gabe’s eating some sort of candy bar and trying to ruffle his little brother’s hair with his left hand. Cas, however, is leaning over on his brother, arm on top of his head reveling in his extra height. Gabe looks mildly annoyed while Cas is smirking fondly.

The next photo appears to be from the ceremony itself and it's probably the closest thing he'll ever get to one, so he soaks it all in. Dean's mildly annoyed to be on what is traditionally considered the bride's side of the aisle. Sam's standing up as his best man and Gabe waits on the other side for Cas. There are photos of Dean walking down the aisle supported on either side by his parents. Then there are photos of Cas and Chuck doing the same. Honestly, he thinks Chuck's about to cry.

There are photos of the vows and he's ashamed (but unsurprised) to see he’s crying in every single one of them. The pair of them are standing up at the altar in matching grey suits and holding hands as if their lives depended on it. In the photos, their gaze rarely leave the other’s face. By the photo of the kiss, Dean finds himself biting his lip in anticipation.

It's probably a little rougher than it should be, but he can tell that Cas’s hand is on his head pulling him close and it looks perfect. Dean can almost feel the sensation and is a little upset that he can't remember it. There's another photo of them resting heads together eyes closed just a few seconds later. The close up shot makes Dean's drying tear tracks even more prominent.

Other photos are from the reception. There's Sam's best man speech which leaves him blubbering and Gabe’s which makes him redden. Cas sits there stoically rubbing his hand with his thumb in every picture.

In the first dance picture he can virtually hear the music playing as Cas slowly moves him around the floor. There's a photo from a mother-son dance for each of them. Dean is crying into his mother's shoulders in his. (He's beginning to think that this is something that the Djinn messed up. He doesn’t cry that much.) Mary and Cas appear to have a more dignified dance as he sweeps her around the floor in a way that made her look like the princess she is.

There's also a photo of the newlyweds shoving pie into each other's faces, despite the fact Dean can see a cake in the background. And if Dean looks at the photos of them kissing the mess away for too long, there was no one around to judge him in this universe.

There were more field pictures. One was of Dean, Cas, and Sam arms around each other in a hug. Another was of John and Mary with their hands on the shoulder of their newest son. There was similar pose with Chuck and Dean on the next page. There was also a photo of Dean with Gabriel who was trying to intimidate the taller male who simply held his new brother’s candy out of his reach with a smirk. In Sam and Cas’s photo, Cas with his inhuman strength is holding Sam in his arms bridal style as the moose tries to mess up the other’s hair. They're both laughing and it pulls at Dean's heartstrings a little bit.

Then there’s photos of just the two of them. There's a cheesy kiss in the front seat of the Impala. There's a stupidly bright smile on Cas’s face as Dean kisses their interlaced hands. There's one of those cliche arm things when sharing a drink that he's always found confusing. There's even a cheesy photo of the two on either side of a wall posing as if they were the cool kids against the lockers in high school.

Some of the photos even make his heart race. Like the one where Cas has him against that very same wall in a gentle kiss. Or the one where he's leaning backwards against the Impala as his husband towers over him, one arm propped above Dean as he whispers something in his ear. The pictures seem  _ too _ intimate, but he can't look away from the reality of this world.

There's a picture from the honeymoon. It's nowhere tropical, Dean supposes that he's afraid of flying in this reality as well, but it looks cozy. He can see a couple of hickeys on his neck and maybe Cas looks a little smug, but mostly they just look domestic. With a glance around the house, he supposes they are.

He bites his lip at the sudden mood shift in the next page. It's an obit for his parents. He flips past it quickly, reminds himself that this isn't real. Dad's been dead for years, but Mom is okay for the time being. He sits not quite staring at the next page when he feels strong arms wrap around him from behind. “I sometimes wish they were both still so little.”

The picture is of two kids, Ben and Claire. They appear to be twelve and it's probably taken just after they got adopted. “Yeah, I get that.” Cas’s arms are warm and he leans back into them slightly.

“Were you feeling nostalgic Dean?”

“Couldn't sleep.”

Dean almost groans at the sensation of kisses being planted in his hair. “I would have a suggestion on how to fix that, but the twins only just got to sleep.” He feels himself growl in annoyance as Cas smiles into his hair. “Of course, you were the one who suggested we have more kids so you wouldn't have been faced with empty nest syndrome. I would have been satisfied with a cat or a guinea pig.”

“I think it's a little late to return the children.”

Cas hums in amusement, but there’s a fondness in his tone. “I think the surrogate would be offended if we asked her to shove them back in her womb two years later.”

Dean laughs a little and continues to flip through the album. There's assorted pictures of Ben and Claire and Cas is very helpful in telling the stories behind them. There's a photo of Dean and Claire at mini golf where she apparently called him Dad for the first time. There's Ben and Cas eating ice cream in a hospital after he had his tonsils removed. There's the four of them bowling where Claire somehow managed to cream them all.

There's a photo of the kids playing with two much younger children who Dean takes to be Sam's. The fact that they're all dressed in black doesn't occur to Dean until Cas sighs in his hair. “Jess would've loved our girls. She already loved Ben and Claire so much, and she was always so excited when we brought up the possibility of having more.”

Christ, did Sam always have to lose her? “Yeah.”

“I can't believe it's been four years. The boys were just so young.”

“It sucks to lose a mom that young.”

Cas kisses his hair again. “I wish your mom could have met our kids. She would have loved being a grandmother.”

“Me too, buddy.” Dean flips past and runs into a later picture of them also in formal wear. It runs much happier than the last. There's six (well eight) of them sitting around a table.

Claire is in a pretty hideous bridesmaid's dress and clearly unhappy about it, but she smiles anyway. Ben’s next to her in a tux and he appears to be glancing off camera, judging by the look, at a pretty girl. Dean and Cas are matching and sitting a touch too close. Next to them are Sam’s boys who are dressed very well, clearly groomsmen even at their young age.

Dean's attention, however, is fixed on the two bouncing beauties in his and Cas’s laps. They're only about a year old in the photo and they're in the cutest little outfits. Dean's holding the one with big blue eyes and the girl Cas is holding has green ones. Neither one is looking at the camera, instead choosing to either gaze at their fathers or the monstrously ugly floral bouquet on the table.

It occurs to him that it seemed unlikely that there would be no other photos of the girls prior to this point. There was probably another photo album dedicated to just them...This was how the Djinn got you to stay. They give you a touch of what you want and make you seek out more. Dean needed out soon.

“My favorite picture is on the next page.”

Dean flipped it. Sam was slightly out of focus and laughing. In the foreground, Sam's boys were trying to whirl their cousins around the dance floor. The boys were probably nine and six and they towered over the little girls, who were still standing feet planted on the ground. The girls were looking at each other though, smiling all the while.

“I swear they’re more codependent than you and Sam.”

Dean wanted to watch videos of these girls. Dean wanted to see them grow up. He wanted to chase off boys or girls who were trying to date them, because they were his little girls. Dean wanted to tell dad jokes. He wanted to tell Cas that he loved him-

“Dean, are you crying?”

He felt a tear run down his face. “Yeah, I guess.”

Cas sighed. “Wait here a moment.”

Dean closed the book with a thud and put his face in his hands. He heard Cas place something in front of him, but instead of a tissue box it was a knife.

“I know I’m supposed to try to keep you here until you die, but…” Cas lets out a breath. “I just can’t do it.”

Dean stares down at the knife dumbly, not quite comprehending what was going on. He looked up at Cas, who was now crying, despite being a figment of his Djinn dream. Not knowing what else to do, he tries to soothe him.

Cas jerks away. “Don’t touch me. I want you to stay so badly. I want to raise a family with you. I want to love you, but I’m not real Dean. There’s nothing real about this world. You need to leave this reality right now, go back to him, please.”

“Cas-”

“I’m not Cas! I’ll never be Cas! I’m just an image of him.” He curses. “God, I can feel how much he loves you though. I can feel how much he needs you. You need to go back to him. Go back to Sam. Go home, Dean Winchester. You’re needed there.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“When you come to and the Djinn is dead, I’ll be dead. But  _ he  _ won’t be. Tell him you love him.”

“How?”

“Three words Winchester.” The words sound more like choking now than anything else. It’s an ugly cry. “Three words.” Then, Cas walks out of the room to soothe a baby’s cry.

Dean wants to go after him. Dean wants to kiss him. Dean wants to fix every little broken part of him.

Dean grabs the knife, plunges it into his chest, and twists.

* * *

 

Cas is still fussing over Dean in the backseat of the Impala as Sam drives back for the bunker. Dean can’t remember how the Djinn even died, but all that mattered at the moment were the small murmurs of disapproval coming from his angel’s mouth whenever he found a bruise.

“You were there.”

“Dean?”

Dean looks anywhere but at the angel. “In my fantasy world, you were there.”

Cas smirked when he thought Dean couldn’t see it.

“Marry me, Cas.”

The angel’s hands still mid movement. “Dean?”

Dean grabs one of the hands. “Marry me, please.”

“Did you get a concussion?”

“No.” Dean cleared his throat. “You, well fake you, told me to tell you how I feel. So, Cas, I wanna get hitched.”

“Why?”

“I’m not good at the mushy stuff, but I don’t ever want to see you cry. And I don’t ever want you to get hurt. And I don’t ever want to think of you with anyone else.” He kissed Cas’s hand. “I guess I’m trying to say I love you.”

Cas launched forward into Dean’s lap placing kisses anywhere he could land them.

“Can I say I’ve been waiting for this for years?”

Dean turned away from his angel for a moment to glare at Sam’s smug expression in the rearview mirror. “You can shut the hell up.”

“Is that anyway to talk to your best man?”

“Who said I was going to ask you to be the best man?”

“Dean…”

“Just for that attitude I’m going to call up Garth!”

“You can be my best man Sam.”

Dean groaned. “Cas, you need to hold out on him for at least one more day before giving in.”

“My apologies.” Then Cas went back to pressing kisses into Dean’s lips, who happily obliged.

As Dean closed his eyes and leaned in, he could picture a Cas in pajamas standing in a dining room looking down a photo album with a sad, but proud grin.

**Author's Note:**

> I could only think of punny titles.
> 
> Other idea was "I Dream of Deanie".
> 
> This is a serious fic, Chuck-dangit. Title suggestions would be appreciated.
> 
> Also, I purposely left who Sam married a secret, but if you want to guess who I imagine it to be in the comments, feel free.


End file.
